Customised cytoarchitectonic probability maps using deformable registration: Primary auditory cortex

Abstract

A novel method is presented for creating a probability map from histologically defined cytoarchitectonic data, customised for the anatomy of individual fMRI volunteers. Postmortem structural and cytoarchitectonic information from a published dataset is combined with high resolution structural MR images using deformable registration of a region of interest. In this paper, we have targeted the three sub-areas of the primary auditory cortex (located on Heschl's gyrus); however, the method could be applied to any other cytoarchitectonic region. The resulting probability maps show a significantly higher overlap than previously generated maps using the same cytoarchitectonic data, and more accurately span the macroanatomical structure of the auditory cortex. This improvement indicates a high potential for spatially accurate fMRI analysis, allowing more reliable correlation between anatomical structure and function. We validate the approach using fMRI data from nine individuals, taken from a published dataset. We compare activation for stimuli evoking a pitch percept to activation for acoustically matched noise, and demonstrate that the primary auditory cortex (Tel.O) and the lateral region Tel.2 are sensitive to pitch, whereas Tel.l is not. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2007.